Android 4.0 ICS Not Coming to Unlocked Galaxy S II This Saturday

Samsung had initially confirmed that the unlocked GSM version of its flagship Galaxy S II smartphone will be receiving the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update starting this Saturday, March 10. Unfortunately, though, the company subsequently alerted users via Twitter that the date is incorrect. It looks like Samsung may have prematurely jumped the gun, or last minute bugs were discovered that forced the company to re-schedule the update.

The Galaxy S II is available in several incarnations in the U.S. on several carriers. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint are offering various versions of the Galaxy S II and updates are expected for those models. So far, neither Samsung nor any of these carriers are offering any specific dates for the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update.

Samsung has detailed some of the update and steps required on its knowledge FAQ portal, which you can check out. The manufacturer highlights that Android Bean and Face Unlock will be some of the new features of Ice Cream Sandwich moving from Gingerbread, and that multitasking and apps will be improved. The Ice Cream Sandwich OS will be overlaid with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. Samsung says that Adobe Flash will not be supported as a result of the Ice Cream Sandwich update. Hopefully, Adobe will provide an update to its Flash player to support Samsung’s flagship device soon.

The Galaxy S II is available in various variants for U.S. carriers T-Mobile USA, Sprint, and AT&T. Typically, with carrier-branded versions, carriers will make the final approval on when the software update will be rolling out and the update must undergo network testing to be sure it works well on the carrier’s infrastructure. As a result, updates usually are deployed first to unlocked phones.